Suez's CEO Is Still Standing

PARIS -- U.S.-style ousters of chief executives used to be uncommon in Europe, but that changed in the past 18 months as companies sacked one underperforming manager after another.

Nowhere has the turnover been as high as in France. Among the dozen or so victims: Vivendi Universal SA's Jean-Marie Messier, France Telecom SA's Michel Bon, and Alstom SA's Pierre Bilger. But one man is still standing despite a mixed record: Gerard Mestrallet, the CEO of giant utility group SuezSA.